Wrapped beneath the layers of language, drug use, anarchy, and punk rock
is a gentle coming of age story. Huh? Mathew Lillard (Scream, Wing
Commander) is Stevo, one of the only two 'true' punk rockers in Salt
Lake City in the golden years of the Reagan Era. Stevo and his buddy Heroin
Bob (Michael Goorjain, (Hard Rain, Leaving Las Vegas), who, oddly
enough, doesn't do any drugs, miraculously graduate from college, and
are now on the cusp of their new lives. Stevo's dad (Christpher MacDonald)
wants him to go to law school like he did, but Stevo just wants to spread
his gospel of anarchy. Stevo and Bob laze their days away with their strange
friends, waiting for something to happen in their lives.

SLC Punk! is a strange and funny movie from director James Merendino.
There are some elements of Merendino's life in the story of the movie,
but overall, it is a work of fiction. In the eighties, punk rock was the
ultimate form of rebellion. Being a punk rocker in Mormon Salt Lake City
can be considered being the ultimate outsider. Stevo and Bob can't relate
to anyone or anything around them, and the people around them can't relate
to them. But oddly enough, Stevo has this nagging feeling that something
is missing from his life. Is anarchy the way to go? Or is something else
out there? Drinking, getting high and getting into fights used to be fun,
but now, the glamour of it all is gone.

Merendino's script is not quite conventional. The movie is told from
Stevo's point of view, and if he wants to tell the audience something,
he turns right towards the camera and starts talking. He tells you his
philosophy on life, and how he feels about his friends and the people
around him. You truly experience the world through his eyes. Lillard does
an excellent job on his first outing as a movie headliner. His anger and
frustration appear very real, as does his sadness and confusion. For some
movies, it seems that a soundtrack is established first, then the script
is written. SLC Punk! is definitely not the case. The soundtrack
fits perfectly into the movie, with tracks by the Dead Kennedys, the Ramones,
the Velvet Underground, the Stooges, the Specials, and more. Merendino
effectively creates an atmosphere of rebellion, and is effectively able
to transform Stevo from a young punk to a young man.